Governor Unveils Health Care Plan

HARTFORD (AP) — Governor M. Jodi Rell unveiled a proposal on December 27 that she says will provide affordable, comprehensive health insurance to thousands of uninsured adults in Connecticut.

The initiative, called the Charter Oak Health Plan, would be open to adults of all incomes and cost each participant about $250 a month in premiums.

“Good health care really should not be a privilege only to those who have the ability to pay,” Gov Rell said.

The Charter Oak Health Plan would offer a full prescription drug package with co-pays ranging from $10 to $15. Enrollees with preexisting medical conditions would not be restricted from coverage.

There would be no maximum annual benefits, but there would be a lifetime maximum of $1 million of coverage. Laboratory and X-ray services would require a 20 percent co-pay while co-pays for prenatal, postnatal and preventive care would be lower than regular office visits.

The plan would discourage costly visits to emergency rooms by requiring payment for a portion of the visit if it is a nonemergency situation.

The proposal, which Gov Rell said will have a minimal cost to the state, comes a week before state lawmakers return to the Capitol for the 2007 legislative session. Some Democrats favor a form of universal health care coverage, where the state covers more of the costs.

The governor said her proposal encourages insurance companies to offer the plan as an affordable choice in their offering of health care plans to reach people who otherwise cannot afford coverage.

Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr (D-Brooklyn) said he was pleased Gov Rell offered the proposal, but said the state will have to spend more on health care.

“I think the governor will recognize the state has to make some investment in this in order to stabilize costs for families and businesses,” he said. “If the governor’s plan makes no investment in health care at all, then is it really a plan or is it a repackaging of existing managed care plans that are already out there?”

About 340,000 Connecticut residents, or ten percent of the population, are uninsured. Connecticut already provides coverage to the poor through Medicaid and to children through the HUSKY insurance program.

The new initiative will help adults who are not eligible for other programs or who do not receive coverage through their employers. Participants must be uninsured for at least six months.

The state would not pay for the plan; it would pay only to promote the plan, which would be offered by insurers.

Michael P. Starkowski, deputy commissioner of the Department of Public Health, said insurance executives are interested in offering the plan.

The state hopes to finish a request for participation process with insurance companies in the next 30 to 60 days. Gov Rell wants the program operating as soon as possible.

Also on Wednesday, Gov Rell announced a plan to waive insurance premiums for newborns under the HUSKY program for the first two months to eliminate any possible reason for not enrolling an infant in HUSKY.

Of the 109,025 births in Connecticut hospitals in the past 30 months, 2,776 were not covered by insurance.

“That number should be zero — absolutely zero,” she said.